Tuesday, August 04, 2015

MURFREESBORO — Discarded
household items can serve as the foundation for a new home and a new life for some
MTSU students in the annual “Great Giveaway.”

Raiders for Christ, an MTSU student organization, will
accept donations of gently used furniture and other goods from 8:30 a.m. to
midnight Saturday, Aug. 1, through Wednesday, Aug. 19, at its headquarters,
1105 E. Bell St. in Murfreesboro.

The items will be given to MTSU international students from
9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Aug. 22.

“Most of those are new students to MTSU, but some of the
international students will come back year after year,” said Sarah Johnson,
director of women’s outreach for Raiders for Christ.

Johnson said the group needs such items as couches, tables,
chairs, beds, dishes, pots and pans, bicycles, small appliances, sheets and
pillowcases, pillows, eating utensils and umbrellas. Donors are asked not to
contribute televisions, computers or any perishable items.

“Almost all of the furniture gets taken, especially the
beds,” said Johnson. “Bicycles go really well because most of them don’t have
cars or any kind of transportation.”

Some contributors choose to go to discount stores and
purchase sponges, mops, brooms, dishwashing liquid, towels and washcloths for
donation.

On Aug. 22, each student who lines up at Raiders for Christ
will be given two Post-it notes. They can write their names on the notes and
stick the notes on two large items that they want while gathering as many small
items as they desire. Volunteers with trucks will help the students transport
the larger items to their residences.

Many items find their way back to Raiders for Christ when
the international students graduate or return to their countries of origin.

“The students are really good about donating the items back
when they’re finished and they go back home,” said Johnson.

To donate items or for more information, contact Raiders for
Christ at 615-896-1529 or send an email to Johnson at sarahfjohnson@yahoo.com.